Learning progress of fathers compared to mothers in auditory-verbal rehabilitation: A pilot study

ABSTRACT Fathers’ participation in early intervention services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing has increased, but few studies have examined the learning progress of skills learned in these sessions. The aim of this study was to compare the competence patterns of fathers and mothers in implementing auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) practices, and to investigate how the parents’ behaviours changed over time when interacting with their children. Five fathers were matched with mothers with respect to children's chronological age, hearing loss degree, and length of enrolment in AVT. Teaching and behavioural skills of fathers and mothers were rated by children's AV therapists at 3-month intervals. Differences in performance scores and learning progress in AVT skills utilisation between fathers and mothers were explored. Fathers showed greater improvement than mothers in the reinforcement domain from Time 2 to Time 3. However, no statistically significant difference in performance scores between fathers and mothers was detected at any time point, nor was there a significant difference in skill progress rate between fathers and mothers. Results suggest that fathers and mothers are equally suited to serving as their children's language facilitators. Fathers can grow positively in both teaching and parenting behaviours through systematic learning to achieve performance levels comparable to mothers’ in learning early intervention techniques for speech and hearing.